Jesuit Wins 38th Swimming Title, First Since 2012

One with his lane, senior co-captain Mitchell Lulich swims to third place (T-3) in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Just after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, one event remained in the LHSAA State Championship Swim Meet at the Sulphur Parks and Recreation (SPAR) Aquatic Center. By this point, Jesuit High School had already clinched the title.

View the Photo Gallery for the Swimming State Finals 

Members of the record-holding 200-medley relay team are (left to right) senior Jack Baudouin, junior Davis Edwards, senior Mitchell Lulich, and junior Charles Korndorffer.

The 2017 state champions started the finals strong by winning the 200-yard medley relay and setting a new Louisiana state record with a time of 1:34:74. Members of the record-holding relay team are junior Davis Edwards, senior Mitchell Lulich, junior Charles Korndorffer, and senior Jack Baudouin.

The Blue Jays would go on to execute a clean sweep in the three team relays. That feat alone set their team score apart from defending champion Catholic High (Baton Rouge) by at least 20 points. An important factor, but not the deciding one. In fact, last year’s team captured two of three relay titles but still finished as the runner-up.

The difference this year was the performance at prelims, where positioning is everything. Jesuit qualified four swimmers, the maximum per team, in all but one individual event. Three Jays qualified for the 50-yard freestyle.

View the Preliminary Results from Friday, November 17

Junior Charles Korndorffer was named Swimmer of the Meet after a flawless performance. Since each swimmer is limited to two individual events and two relays, Korndorffer was undefeated. He won two individual races, the 100-backstroke and 100-butterfly, and was a member of two of the three winning relay teams. Additionally, he set the state record in the 100-fly (see time below), which was previously held by Jesuit alumnus John Tortorich ‘08. Korndorffer broke the 100-backstroke record set last year by a Rummel senior.

Junior Charles Korndorffer was named Swimmer of the Meet. He won two individual races, the 100-backstroke and 100-butterfly, and was a member of two of the three winning relay teams.

“It is definitely an honor, and I’m happy that I was able to do it with this team,” Korndorffer said. “Setting records is great, but the one that means the most is the team relay record. That’s what high school swimming is all about – the team.”

The team effort is one that head swimming coach Bret Hanemann ’85 attributes to selflessness.

“Unsung heroes like Mike Foley, Davis Edwards, Mitchell Lulich, and Jack Baudouin — these are the guys I took out of their best events because I knew they were capable of scoring points in any situation. Talk about selflessness! When I approached Foley and Edwards, their response was ‘just tell us what we need to do, coach. Tell us what we need to do in order for the team to win.’ That’s selflessness.”

In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Connor Schwartz inched past teammate Jack Baudouin by one-hundredth of a second to secure fifth place. Baudouin took sixth, and fellow senior Joey Dupepe earned 11th place. Besides the 50-free, Jesuit fielded a top-four finisher in every race.

Those Jays who secured fourth place or higher in individual events are the following: sophomore Mike Foley (100-free and 200-free), sophomore Davis Edwards (500-free and 200-yard individual medley), junior Charles Korndorffer (100-backstroke and 100-butterfly), and senior Mitchell Lulich (100-breaststroke).

“The beauty of it is that our guys who were swimming in the same events were rooting for each other,” Coach Hanemann noted.

The Blue Jays finished the meet with 455.5 points. Last year’s champion Catholic High School finished in second place with 373 points. This great team victory gives Jesuit its 38th state swimming title and the first since 2012. Under Coach Hanemann, Jesuit has now won 16 titles.

The winning coach feels strongest about the team’s attitude throughout their trip to Sulphur, saying, “What I made sure to remind these guys about was winning and acting like champions. Not in your face. And they did just that. In fact, while we were shaking hands with Catholic, the tournament officials were announcing Jesuit as the winner. So, I am proud of our guys for winning with humility…like champions.”

Read More on the Prelims…

TheAdvocate.com | Jesuit boys, Mt. Carmel girls shine in swimming preliminaries; St. Scholastica’s Fouchi sets D-II record

Read More on the Finals…

TheAdvocate.com | LHSAA Swim meet: Jesuit takes Division I, breaks Catholic’s four-year string; St. Scholastica wins seventh straight title